Gowanus artist Jannell Turner is seen next to her giant nature-themed egg sculpture, which is now included in Faberge’s prestigious “Big Egg Hunt.”Photo courtesy of Taylor Warwick Public Relations

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

As a child in the South, Jannell Turner would retreat to the woods and contemplate the world around her. As an adult in Brooklyn, those woods have been replaced by her Gowanus studio, but her paintings never stray too far from the forests of her childhood.

“In my work, I explore psychological emotions associated with being inside the woods,” says Turner, a 41-year-old mom who takes care of her kids by night and paints by day. “Enchantment, innocence and danger.”

Turner’s naturescapes also point to the environmental issues such as deforestation, climate change and preservation.

She is also using a nature-related theme – in this case, an enchanted forest scene – in a giant egg she has created as part of New York’s largest and most prominent public art events: The 2014 Fabergé Big Egg Hunt in New York.

Billed as the “World’s Biggest Egg Hunt,” the event, which began on April 1, features giant egg sculptures, which were individually created by the world’s leading artists and designers. The “eggs” are being displayed throughout the city through April 26. Turner was one of about 250 artists selected out of thousands who applied.

The highly collectible egg sculptures will be auctioned for charity at Sotheby’s on April 22, raising funds for economically disadvantaged children and critically endangered wildlife.

The first Fabergé Big Egg Hunt caused a frenzy in London in 2012, setting two Guinness World Records and raising over $1.5 million for charity. The 2014 hunt in New York will benefit Elephant Family, which seeks to protect endangered Asian elephants, and Studio in a School, which sponsors classes by visual artists in public schools and community centers in inner-city neighborhoods.

Turner, a co-developer of Brooklyn Art Space in Gowanus, debuted with a nearly sold-out show at Trestle Gallery last October.

“I’m excited to be able to share my work with a citywide audience,” said Turner last month, as she put the finishing touches of an enchanted forest scene on the giant egg in the center of her Brooklyn studio. “It’s a huge honor to be included in this.”

Designing her egg, Turner says, has inspired even newer works — a series of haunting and elegant naturescape paintings she hopes to share with the public at gallery shows in 2014 and beyond.